


Burial Practices

by kezarsi



Category: Fate/stay night (Visual Novel)
Genre: Conversations, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:28:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26034193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kezarsi/pseuds/kezarsi
Summary: Kirei drafts a will before the Fifth Grail War; Gilgamesh has questions.
Relationships: Gilgamesh | Archer/Kotomine Kirei
Comments: 5
Kudos: 39





	Burial Practices

**Author's Note:**

> I was reading about Sumerian funeral practices, and ended up writing this.
> 
> It's basically just a single conversation, but I thought it was complete enough to post.

“Do you think Rin would prefer my computer, the photo album of our time in the Caribbean, or my wife’s old wedding dress?” Kirei listed three things Rin would absolutely hate to receive with a straight face. He was sitting at his desk, surrounded by stacks of papers. He had been busy preparing for the upcoming War the past few weeks.

“It’s my computer, I made you buy it.” Gilgamesh corrected instantly. He leaned back on the couch. “It’s not like you to give gifts freely. Is there an occasion?”

Kirei smiled, “hopefully not. It’s a will.”

“A will?” Gilgamesh snarled, like the word personally offended him. “Why would you write one of those?”

“Just a contingency.”

“You are not going to die; I forbid it.”

“Probably not,” Kirei placated him. “However, if by some miracle we do fail, I would rather not leave a betrayed and angry Rin in charge of tying everything up.” 

“I don’t like it.”

“If it is not Rin, it would be the Church.” 

“In that case...” Gilgamesh put his feet up on their coffee table. At least he wasn’t wearing shoes, which was the best Kirei was able to get out of him after ten years. “Why are you writing one, anyways? It's not like you have many possessions.”

“Honestly the purpose of the will was originally to ensure that if you live longer than me, you won’t be evicted, but it would be a little funny to leave Rin on a bad note, wouldn’t it?”

“So it was to take care of me?” Gilgamesh sighed. “There’s no need to do that.” 

“I know.” It was hard to describe, but even if it didn’t make him happy to take care of Gilgamesh, or once, Claudia, he was still the head of this house, so it was as much his job as taking care of his Church. He did not want to be the sort of pathetic man who could not give his lover a comfortable life. Gilgamesh would frown at those sentiments and say it was the result of his culture brainwashing him, and yes, probably, but still.

“Anything else this will of yours decides?” Gilgamesh asked boredly.

“No, just where my property goes, what to do with our bodies, things like that.”

That did catch his attention. “Both of our bodies?”

“Absolute worst case scenario,” Kirei said. “Besides, even if we don’t end up needing it now, it’s cheaper to purchase when we are still young, and we won’t have to worry about it ever again.” 

Gilgamesh considered that. “Do what you please,” he decided. “It is natural to spend a lifetime preparing one’s tomb, so I will allow it.” He had spent years preparing his burial site back in his first life, and the time had paid off. His tomb had been truly magnificent; a large chamber filled with everything one could desire buried underneath a nearby river. 

“I meant to ask you, now that you are here, do you have any preference?”

“Preference... in burial methods?” Gilgamesh scoffed. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Very well. That makes it easier for me.”

“Of course our bodies should not be cremated.”

“Of course... That’s a difficult request in Japan.”

“You need a body to enter the afterlife. If your corpse is burnt, your soul dies with it,” Gilgamesh explained matter-of-factly, like his cultural traditions should be obvious to anyone.

“Yet, you are willing to burn down humanity.”

“In that case the souls being destroyed is a bonus.”

“Actually, my religion has similar traditions. I was just going to have us buried in the foreigner's graveyard here at the Church. Do you mind?”

“That’s acceptable. The graves here are well respected enough, and should be safe from looters,” Gilgamesh said with a light frown, “but, Kirei, I’ve seen the state of the coffins you put into the ground.”

“And you disapprove?”

“They are empty.”

“I take it you believe that tombs should be filled with a bountiful sum of gold and other mortal devices for use in the next life, or something like that.”

“So you already know,” he said approvingly.

“You date from about the same era as the Pyramids, so it wasn’t a difficult guess. By the way, when it comes to preserving your body--”

“As long as it isn’t burnt or desecrated, it’s fine.”

“That’s a relief. So I’ll put in a request that you be buried with some jewels, is that good enough?”

“Kirei, you misunderstand... it isn’t the gold that’s the problem, exactly...”

“What do you mean?”

“The corpses in your graveyard seem very lonely.”

“I don’t think I understand.”

“Where I come from, no one enters the ground alone. Families all share a single tomb, they place each member in when they pass. And when a King dies, he is buried along with all his wives, lovers, servants, and slaves.”

“Do you mean that they were killed and buried along with you, to serve you in the afterlife?” He had heard stories of ancient Chinese courts doing the same, so it was not exactly surprising, but Gilgamesh had never mentioned such a thing before.

“Yes. There were about one hundred people sharing my tomb. In my time, it was the greatest honor to die alongside the King.”

“Sorry Gilgamesh, but to me that just sounds like a pointless massacre.”

Gilgamesh laughed, “it was.” His laughter faded. “Yet, it was also the way things were. Your graveyard is very cold, Kirei. It’s dreadful, isn’t it? To see those made-up bodies in empty coffins lowered into lonely holes.”

“I wouldn’t say dreadful... You know, we believe that the righteous dead will rise again in the end times. That’s why we take care to beautify our corpses. Well, I definitely won’t be one of them, so it doesn’t really matter how I’m buried.” Kirei tapped his pencil on the table. “Say, Gilgamesh? Do you want to share a burial plot with me? I’m not a hundred slaves or whatever you want, but if being buried alone is so unsettling for you, I don’t really mind.”

“That’s better. That’s our coffins next to each other in the dirt, correct? That’s still--” Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes. “Is it possible we could just be placed in the same tomb?”

Kirei imagined how that kind of request would be interpreted by outsiders, and shuddered. “In that scenario, our bodies would just be jumbled around. You wouldn’t be buried with the respect you deserve as King.”

“Yes, that’s a concern. I would still rather be with you.”

“Sharing a coffin would be a little... people would think it bizarre.” He looked over at Gilgamesh’s imploring expression, and reconsidered, “I guess we’d already be dead.”

“So you accept?”

“If it makes you happy.”

“It does.” Gilgamesh stretched out on the couch, “that’s a relief.” He smiled over at Kirei and said teasingly, “you’ll stay with me, won’t you?”

He was pretty sure he’d just agreed to be Gilgamesh’s eternal slave in the Sumerian afterlife, or something.

No matter. As long as he kept Gilgamesh in a good mood, things should go well. And, when the world burns to the ground, no one will bother burying their bodies anyways.

  
  
  


Shirou and Rin did not go to Kirei Kotomine’s funeral. They had not even known it was being held, the Church buried him discreetly a few days after the war. It was a few months later that they went, a last bit of closure before departing to England together. 

Rin had done her best not to think of her guardian at all since learning of his betrayal. Just the image of his smirking face made her want to punch him, then immediately remember that he wasn’t around to punch anymore. Her feelings were complicated, he had been like family to her after all. She never learned, never would learn, how much of it was fake. Any motivation he had given sounded, frankly, insane, and she only learned the extent of his crimes after his death. It wasn’t really him she missed, she thought. What she wanted was just the chance to properly confront him. 

He was buried in the old section of the graveyard, surrounded by his family members. It seemed the Kotomine family had built and owned the Church on the hill for centuries.

This is what was written on the gravestone:

> Kirei Kotomine 1968-2004
> 
> Gil Mohamed 1970-2004
> 
> “As for man, his days are numbered, whatever he might do, it is but wind.”
> 
> \--The Epic of Gilgamesh

Rin’s anger rose as she stood in front of the grave. 'Gil Mohamed' could not be anyone besides that golden Servant buried under a flimsy pseudonym. It wasn't like he could be buried as Gilgamesh, King of Heroes. But, that fake priest managed to get his Servant’s true name on their tombstone anyways... it was like he was mocking her from beyond the grave, shoving in her face everything she had not known. But it was also a little...

“Do you think he cared for us at all?” The cold wind pulled at her long hair.

Shirou answered hesitantly, “I don’t know. But, he had to have been thinking of you, even if he left you a bunch of trash.” He pushed his hands down in his pocket, sheltering them from the spring air. “Maybe he’s just a messed up person, who can’t relate to people in a normal way.”

“Yeah...” Rin turned away from the grave, looking towards Shirou instead. “I guess there’s some things we just can’t know.” Then, she smiled, “there’s a Chinese restaurant nearby, want to go for lunch?”

“I thought we were making some stew at your place?”

“Sometimes it’s good to indulge. Come on!” 

And she pulled him away.

**Author's Note:**

> The final scene isn't after any particular route. It has elements of all three in my mind.
> 
> Kirei knows that there's basically no way he survives, no matter who wins, and is all too aware of Gilgamesh's ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. On the other hand, Gilgamesh is very good at ignoring possible outcomes he doesn't like. So, there's no way they can be on the same page for this kind of conversation.
> 
> This is the first time I've published a fanfic in many years, hopefully I'm not too rusty.


End file.
